


There's a Difference!

by GordandV



Series: There's a Difference [15]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 22:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11473338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GordandV/pseuds/GordandV
Summary: “It’s nice of you and so many other skaters to come watch this competition,” Celestino notes with suspicion. “Flying all the way to America just to support one another. You and Viktor aren’t even skating.”





	There's a Difference!

**Author's Note:**

> The final installment of "There's a Difference."
> 
> V suggests you rewatch the opening of Yuri!! on Ice since that was her biggest inspiration for the finale. Enjoy!

**There’s a Difference!**

_“It’s nice of you and so many other skaters to come watch this competition,” Celestino notes with suspicion. “Flying all the way to America just to support one another. You and Viktor aren’t even skating.”_

 

_Russian Punk Proves to be Prolific with Backflips!_

_Japan’s Ace Skater to Switch to Beam Routines!_

_Nikiforov Gives Up Skating in Favor of Following Dream to Become World-Class Magician!_

_Guang Hong Ji Proves that Toys Aren’t Just for Children!_

_Leo De La Iglesia Show Off Flag Skills with Swiss Flag!_

_Swiss Skater Shows Hooping Skills! Sex Appeal and Skills Through the Roof!_

_Thai Skater Wows with Ropes!_

_Emil Nekola Shows Off Some Fancy Footwork!_

_Italian Skaters Pick Up Blades at Competition!_

_South Korean Skater Shows Off His Schutzhund!_

_Canadian Clown Wows in America!_

_Hero of Kazakhstan Plays Pool! On Ice!_

_Russian Skater Uses Cards as Weapons! Watch Out, World!_

_Japan’s Cutest Skater Swings with Style!_

“It’s not _fair_.” Yuri frowns at his phone. “ _I’m_ the one who started all this nonsense, and you all get the headlines!”

“To be fair, Yuuri did do an Olympic level balance beam routine on a rink wall,” Viktor notes. He beams. “Do you really think I could become a world-”

“No,” Yuri interrupts. He continues scrolling.

_United States of America’s ISU Judging Scandal!_

Yuri taps on the story.

_Following a number of scoring scandals and complaints, a formal investigation has begun involving American judges from the ISU. Beginning in-_

“Finally!” Yuri thrusts his phone at Viktor. “All those American asshole judges are finally getting investigated!” Yuri frowns when Viktor just offers a halfhearted smile. “Why aren’t you happy? This is great news!”

“Investigations like this can take years,” Viktor says with a shrug. “It’s nice that something’s being done, but nothing may come of it.”

“Nothing may… you’ve gotta be kidding me!” Yuri puts his phone down before he can break another one and get a lecture from Yakov about taking care of his belongings. “I have another competition with the sister competition where I first threw a Bonaly in like three weeks! Are you telling me these same assholes are going to be there judging while under investigation?”

Viktor just shrugs and then nods. “Probably.” He smiles. “America!”

Yuri groans. “How am I going to top my Bonaly? I can still only two foot the landing.”

“You’re already planning on not skating?” Viktor asks.

“Oh, I’m going to skate,” Yuri growls. “But every single skater I know has been screwed over. I need something bigger. Better!”

“Bigger and better than a backflip?” Viktor asks.

Yuri nods. “I want to give those judges a huge middle finger!”

Viktor isn’t quite vindictive, but every skater he knows _has_ been screwed over in some fashion. “We could get all the skaters to take to the ice and give a middle finger,” he suggests. Wouldn’t that be a headline? Top International Skaters Raise Middle Fingers in Protest!

“Not big enough,” Yuri says with a sigh. “Anyone can just put their finger up.” He demonstrates.

Yuuri walks into the locker room to see Yuri hanging almost upside down on a bench, phone by his face and held in one hand while the other extends his middle finger in Viktor’s direction. Viktor seems equally fascinated as he mimics Yuri’s hand gesture with both of his.

“Viktor! That’s rude!” Yuuri says before batting at Viktor’s hands to get him to stop. “Yuri, what are you doing to Viktor?”

“Nothing!” Yuri replies.

“We’re planning revenge,” Viktor supplies. “Yuuri, aside from an actual middle finger, what’s the biggest middle finger we could give judges?”

Yuri briefly holds his phone up for Yuuri to look at. Yuuri can’t help but smile. “I’m not sure. Skaters reveal hidden talents in order to protest unfair scores seems like a pretty big middle finger. Not taking the ice is the ultimate middle finger.”

“But I still want to skate!” Yuri reminds. “A Bonaly isn’t big enough.”

“Quad axel?” Viktor suggests distractedly.

“Unless you’re throwing me into that jump, no- yes!”

“Yes quad axel?” Yuuri says confusion. “Yuri, I can’t remember you ever coming close to even landing-”

“No!” Yuri sits up and begins to grin. He points. “You and Viktor can do quad flips!”

Yuuri and Viktor nod unsurely.

“I can do a Bonaly!”

“They’re illegal in competition-” Yuuri begins.

“It doesn’t matter!” Yuri locks eyes with Viktor. “You do pretty good choreography, Viktor.”

Viktor beams.

“I have an idea! But… I need…”

“Help?” Yuuri supplies gently.

Yuri nods. “Help. Lots of help. You and Viktor are friends with lots of skaters, right?”

Viktor nods without hesitation. “Yes!”

 

“Quad flips in the center,” Viktor repeats to himself. “Quad flips in the center. Quad flips in the center.”

“Is he alright?” Celestino whispers to Yuuri while he watches Viktor pace and continue to repeat “quad flips in the center” like a desperate mantra. “Usually you’d be the one pacing and worrying, but…”

“He’s fine,” Yuuri assures while he holds a hand up for Phichit to high-five as the Thai skater gets off the ice.

“It’s nice of you and so many other skaters to come watch this competition,” Celestino notes with suspicion. “Flying all the way to America just to support one another. You and Viktor aren’t even skating.”

“Mhm-hm.” Yuuri nods and avoids eye contact.

Given the ongoing investigation, judge roster, and international skaters, the press for this competition is intense to say the least.

“Quad flips in the center!” Viktor gasps when Christophe grabs his shoulder.

“Calm down,” Chris says while he steers Viktor away from a number of people with cameras and tape recorders. “You know this choreography like the back of your hand. You made it!”

Viktor wrings his gloved hands together: he’s not used to feeling nervous. “I know, I know, but I’ve changed it so many times, what if I remember it wrong? I just want everything to go well.” He looks around. “And it’s the first time we’re all here and doing it together.”

“I know.” Christophe smiles. “But this is still for fun. Think of it as an exhibition skate. No pressure.”

“No pressure,” Viktor repeats.

Yuuri fiddles with the zipper of his warmup jacket as the last of the skaters leave the ice. It’ll take a few minutes for the Zamboni to resurface the ice and for the first skater to be called. He looks around and offers a smile when he sees other skaters begin to shift.

“Phichit, what is going on?” Celestino demands as he tries to wrestle Phichit’s jacket off. “I’m not blind. All the coaches know something is up.”

Phichit shakes his head, fists a hand in his jacket to keep it on, and then whips his head around when the announcer begins the opening commentary for the competition. There’s a little blurb about the investigation inserted between notable sponsors, and then a run-through of all the skaters.

“Representing the United States of America, Leo de la Iglesia!” comes the announcer’s enthusiastic voice.

Leo is still dressed in his jacket and warm-up pants. His own coach looks concerned as he lingers by the open gate. He looks over his shoulder, grins, and then raises both arms and shouts, “history maker!” as loud as he can. He takes off his jacket, rips his tear away pants off, and then removes his skate guards and takes to the ice.

More than a dozen skaters from varying spots around the rink rush the ice. They’ve been putting on skates on the sidelines despite questions of why: you’re not skating in this competition, why the skates? Jackets and pants get thrown aside, and Viktor shrugs out of his long coat, drops his gloves, and trails after Yuuri. Yuuri heads for the rink wall, vaults over it, and Viktor follows.

The arena explodes. Each skater is dressed in dark pants and either a white shirt or slate grey one of some kind. The announcer is trying to keep up with the skaters as they take their positions around the ice.

“United Sates of America, Leo de la Iglesia! Russia, Yuri Plisetky! Japan, Yuuri Katsuki! Russia, Viktor Nikiforov! China, Guang Hong Ji! Switzerland, Christophe Giacometti! Thailand, Phichit Chulanont! Czech Republic, Emil Nekola! Italy, Michele Crispino! South Korea, Seung Gil Lee! Canada, Jean-Jaques JJ Leroy! Kazakhstan, Otabek Altin! Russia, Georgi Popovich! Japan, Minami Kenjirou!”

The music starts once each skater is still.

_Can you hear my heartbeat?_

_Tired of feeling, never enough._

_I close my eyes and tell myself that my dreams will come true!_

The choreography begins simply, but every skater is perfectly in synch, and they all jump and land at once. It’s not a hard jump, but more than a few coaches clap their hands over their ears at the almost overwhelming applause and cheering. Bodies shift, and Viktor’s “quad flip at the center” suddenly makes sense. It’s a pyramid of jumps, most difficult at the center and less complicated ones funneling out. Those at the outskirts finish their jumps, slide on the ice, and then turn to center ice with their arms held out.

“The first quad axel in history!” Viktor had suggested in his mass text consisting of possible choreography.

“Not technically a quad axel if someone helps you do it,” Michele had pointed out.

But no one had suggested taking it out.

Minami and Chris hold one another about the wrist, and Chris spins Minami around in a circle, once, twice, three times to gain momentum, and then flings him across the center of the ice. It’s an assisted quad axel, and Minami lands a tad shakily, but he doesn’t touch down or fall. The stadium explodes, and the skating continues.

_Yes we were born to make history!_

_We were born to make history!_

_We were born to make history!_

_Yes we were born to make history!_

By the end of the song, shirts have been untucked and unbuttoned or discarded entirely. It’s a plethora of colors, some bright, some pastel, but all create a pleasing contrast to the dark pants and varied shirts.

Viktor is the first to break the end pose once the music stops. He stands up straight, wipes his forehead, and then beams and begins to wave. The crowd is going to bring the roof down.

“It worked!” Viktor notes with pride.

“Of course it worked!” Yuri is waving and offering a middle finger to the judges. “Your choreography isn’t that shitty.”

“I think Viktor means it worked in the fact that we didn’t run into one another,” Seung Gil notes. “We never practiced altogether, remember?”

Christophe and Minami are hugging one another in delight and chanting “assisted quad axel!”

“Viktor came up with most of the choreography,” Guang Hong tells the nearest bunch of reporters. “But we all helped and had input. Leo and Yuuri found the music, Dean Fujioka’s ‘History Maker’ since all of us speak at least a little English.”

“How did you all decide who would attempt the quad axel?” someone asks.

“Biggest and smallest skaters,” Emil explains. “Minami’s the shortest, and we had a competition to see who could hold him the longest yesterday: Christophe won.”

“We definitely made history,” Yuri says with delight while he continues to look at the shell-shocked judges. “This kicks the crap out of my Bonaly!”

_Skaters Make History!_

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully you realized that the group skate was meant to be the anime opening!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left kudos of wrote comments! V is still surprised at how many people enjoyed her silly stories and talents. (She still can't believe she managed to get every skater done. But she did!)


End file.
